; 605 

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lopy 1 



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.IBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



013 704 536 9 




RALPH |. SMITH 

Oompaii^^ K, Second Texas Infantry. Bora 

at C*,nterville, St. Mary's Parish, La,, 

Jily 19th, lb40. Now resident 

of San Marcos, H;iys 

County. Texas. 



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Reminisences of Civil War 






By Ralph J. Smithy Sometimes Private. 



In the year 1861 the grim vliiaged 
god of war reigned supreme through- 
out Texas. In June of tha/t year Ex- 
<j over nor Stocokdale, a man of bril- 
liant attaiaiments as well as a fiery 
Southern patrioo, spoke to a large au- 
dience of citiizens of Jackson County 
in the court house of the town of Tex- 
anna. His eloquent pleadings of the 
Confederate cause, for he was migh- 
tier in words than deeds, created great 
excitement and enthusiastm through- 
out the simround.ing coaintry, inflam- 
ing the minds of liis hearer®, espec- 
ially the young men, to feiver heat, 
and they were eager to enter ithe fray 
and drive the cruel invader of their 
beloved land off the earth or surrein- 
der their liives in the attempt. So I 



matter of few moinths ujutLl we would 
return home covered with glory 
and renown. The possibiilty of such 
a thing as. defeat never for a mom- 
ent entered the mand of a member of 
our inexperiettioed corps. Day after 
day we were dined, wined and flat- 
tered. Night after nighit we floated 
upon a sea of glory. The ladies pet- 
ted and lionized us; preachers pray- 
ed with and for us, declarimg that the 
lord was on our side, so we need 
have no fears. Alas how soon we were 
to realize the truth of epigram that 
the lord was on the side with the bdg- 
g.est gu/nis. 
While in this camp that brainy old 
war veteran, Ex-iPresideint of the Re- 
public of Texas, General Sam Hous- 



lost no time in joiniimng the company \ ton, made us a talk calculated to 
then being organized by Clark Ow^en ' dampen the ardor of men less imtoxi- 
who up to this time was a strong Un- 1 cated than we poor boys with pomp 
ion man, opposing seoessdon, who be- j and glory of war. He told us we knew 
came our Captain. He was a man ] not what we did ; that the rei&ources 



about fifty-five years old and a Chris- 
tian gentleman. 

I wish I were able to describe the 
glorious anticipation of the first few 
days of our military lives, when we 
each felt individually able to charge 
and anihiliate a whole company of 
blue coats. What brilliant speeches 
we made and the dinners the good 
people spread for us, and Oh the be- 
witching female eyes that pierced the 
breasts of our grey uniforms, stopping 
temporarily the heart beats of many a 
fellow that the enemies bullets, were 
destined soon to do forever. 

On the 10th of October we were or- 
dered to Houston where we were mob 
ilized into the Second Texas Infan- 
try, commanded by Colonel John C. 
Moore, our company designated Com- 
pany K. Here again all was excite- 
ment and all felt that it was only a 



of the north were almost exhaustless 
That time and money would wear us 
out and oonquoa' us at last However 
he miight as well had ibeen giving ad- 
vice to the inmates of a lunatdq asy- 
lum. We knew no such word as fail. 

On the 2 and of March, 1861, af- 
ter months of impatient waiting, w^ 
were ordered to the front. At last 
a thousand hearts beat happily. Hur- 
riedly boarding a train we were car- 
ried to Beaumont by rail, thence by 
boat to Wise's Bluff, head of naviga- 
tion on the Neches river. From there 
were marched to Alexandria, La., 
thence transports carried u© down Red 
river and up the Miesdssippi to Mem- 
phis, Tennessee, where we imm' d - 
iateh- *>o8rflAd a railroad train for Cor- 
inth Mississippi. 

After four days rest at Corinth we 
received orders to cook three day?^ 



1. 



ratiaiiis, preparatory to imarchimg to 
fcjhuioli, or FiittS'burg Landing, twenty 
five mides East. We mairichjed cm the 
third day of April, advancing slowly 
on acconnt of the wretched oondiition 
of the road. Of couiriBe we ate our 
rations in the fioiat tweaay four hours, 
it beiing a wexi-fenowm ^joldjier's max- 
im that rations ane carried easier in 
the kStomach than on the back. After 
floundering through the sjush for two 
days we ihrew our tired bodies down 
in a muddy corn field where drows- 
ing and freezing, hungry and soak- 
ing we spent the last night before our 



taking' posseisaaoin of tixe stores. Our 
regiment, the Second Texas, raw re- 
cruits aixd weaJc froim hunger as it 
were, behaved like vefterans, and al- 
though I have seen the hotnor claim- 
ed in print by others, it undoubted- 
ly played the pnincipaJ roilil in the 
capture of the brigade of General Pren- 
tice. I witnessed the General surren- 
der his sword to Colonel Moore and 
saw the men lay down their arms and 
niaach to the rear under euard. In 
the words of Sargeant BdiU, wit of our 
regiment, (of whom more hereafter) 
"This dayy's fight was as easy as 



initiation into the horrors of real war. seining for suekei's." 

The next morninig, Sunday April , When evening sthades began, to draw 
6th we went into th© hard fought bat- [ a curtain over the bloody field GeU' 
tie of Shiloh. I shall not attempt j eral Grant's forces, disorganized and 
to give a detailed discription of the I beaten, could be seen like a great 
bloody encooiniter. A private soldier unordered mass., huddled under the 
has no knowledge of military move-- , canons of the gunboats. Th© siplteful 
mentis outside of has immeddate sur- i crack of small arms gradually ceas- 
roundiiings. In fact men of the rank l ed and we prepared to accept a eldght 
and file are often puffed up with the token of the regardiS presiented to us 
pride of victory only to find out some- by the enemy in the shape of quarter- 
time afterward* that he had been j master's stores., commissaries etc. 
well-whipped. In great battles with Oh how empty we found oursielveis 
thousands on each side , especial- ; now that we had tiime to thank of it. 
ly privates, are like little screws in Having ioiflated our anatomies with 
the wheel of a giant machimie. They crackers, sausage, pigs feet, maoaro- 
are carried along by the power that ni, sugar coffee etc. we began to re- 
moves the whole mass without know- ' lect such blankets overcoats and oth- 
ing where or why. i er clothing as we felt the need of. It 

About nine o'clock with empty stom: ] soon began to be rumored among us 
achs and appetites made voracious by I that our Commander, General Albert 
the faint smell of commissaries emin- | Sidney Johnson was dead upon the 
ating from General Grant's caimp our I field. No man who has not been a 
regiment went into the midst of the ' soldier can appreciate the change this 
fight. All I remember for the first ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ ^ ^^^ 

whole army. Although s.till rejoicing 
over the resu't of the battle, the fac- 



few minutes after was a terrible noise 
great smoke, incessant rattling of 
small anms, infernal confusion and 
then I realized that the whole lime 
of the einemy wasi in disorderly retreat 
We followed Ihem close for £ear they 
would carry cff their commissaries 
but they did not appear to be as hun- 
gry as we were and dashed through 
the camp without the slightest halt, 
while we prepared for the morrow by 

2 



es of the men showed rather the grim 
satisfaction, of the sucoeasful gladia- 
tor than the glad exultant smiile of 
the mdrth-crowned warrior. To Ms 
death the soldiers almost universally 
attributed their failure to obtain vic- 
tory on the next day, but now we 
kno\v iliere were other causes. 



(J rant's rejinfoTcem©nts wene lariger 
in nunuber thaox w<? thQught and I am | 
afraid that failure to destroy all or 1 
neaa-ly all Urn captured euppliies, con- 1 
tributed largely to Our repulee. I 
Many of our boya were raw recriuiits 
who had yet to learn that a battle is I 
never over as loiiig as the enemy is | 
in sight. Oiur victory had eoemingly ' 
been so coonpLeite that it was every^- 
where reponted in the ranka thut the 
battle was over, aU we would have to 
do next day would be to take charge 
of Grant's, Army, whijch was ready to 
suriTender. I tjaw numbers of men 
proceedlhg to the rear loaded with 
clothiinig amd suppJies. Poor fellows, 
tbey had been hungry so long and 
wet so much, they had fought so long 
and so gallantly for them they were 
no doubt convimced that the.y had earn 
ed a little camifort and pest, though it 
would not have changed the ultimate 
result of the war, probably would 
have prolonged the bloody and use- 
less struggle. 

For the honor of the boys I have 
often regretted that we dad not give 
Grant tinie to apply the torch to his 
stores. Wotrn out but for once no^t 
hungry, we slept through the night, 
Though the clouds poured down a 
perfect deluge those who had escap- 
ed wounds or guard duty knew It not 
until the roar of artillery awoke us 
the next morning. 

About ten o'clock on the 7th the 
Second Texas was ordered to charge 
a masked battery, supported by a 
brigade in ambush. This was a warm 
corner indeed, for in a very short time 
the regiment lost one hxmdred and 
fifty men, includimg the captain of my 
company. The writer was aoon after 
wounded in the left leg, falling in 
the eoiemy's line and was of course 
captured. So I would advise all boys 
going into battle to avoid being shot 
in the left leg below the knee.for it 
i^ a daily reminder to me of that , 
plagtaked war. 

Our army, failing to break the ene-- 

3 



my 'a line, hastily fell back to Corin- 
th and I was a pdisonjer at the ten* 
der merciiesi of the foe. Our army at 
the battle of Shiloh nium,bered forty 
thousand and three hundred and 
Crranit's forces on the first day num- 
bered forty nJne thousand. After 
General BueJl reinforced him on the 
night of the G'th he had seventy thous 
and and eight hundred. We lost in 
killed, wounded and misising, ten thou- 
sand and seven hundred. Grant's loss- 
es according to General Sherman's 
Btaitememt,, was thirteen thousand 
five hundred and seventy-three. 

My wound was bandaged and toge- 
ther with imany others, of both blue 
and grey I wa® sent to St. Louis, Mo. 
%yhere a hospital for prisoners was 
fitted up by some angels in female 
forms called Rebel Sympathisers. 
Human Sympathizer© would ha,ve been 
a much more appropriate niame, for 
those big-hearted ladies. I am sure 
knew neither North nor South, but 
that all mankind were their brothers. 
The hospital was located in McDow- 
ell's College on Gratiot street and 
many a wounded Confederate has 
cause to thank heaven and woman- 
kind for the delicate care he receiiVed 
therein. 

The physician into whose hands I 
fell had at one time lived in Houston, 
Texas, and strange to say, out of the 
thousand or more wounded prisoners 
I was the only Texan in that depart- 
ment of the hospital, so the doctor 
was particularly kind to me, in re- 
turn for which, as a slight token of 
my gratitude, I made a pipe of stone 
with my name engraved on it, also 
name and number of my company and 
regiment and presented it to him as a 
souvenir. He seemd to prize it very 
highly. 

To the doctor and the ladies of the 
city who suppUed me with food more 
appropriate for the sick than prison- 
ers of war are furnished I owe my 
life, for weak and exhausted from loss 
of blood my condition was critical for 



sometime, uotwiithstaaidiiing the care 
they bestowed upon, me. 

There wesre a dozen or more Conifed- 
erate officers near where I was in 
the hospital amd one day they were 
amusdmg- theaniselves by sdmglnig Dixie 
and other soingsi when a Germain U. S 
Captaan ordered them to stop. They 
paid no attention to him and contin- 
ued to Sling, whiereupoa he became fur- 
ious and ordered the guard to fire iiv 
to their room which they promptly 
did. No one was hurt, however, but 
the Catpain, who I heard, was cash- 
iered. At any rate we never saw 
him -again. 

After about three months^ in St. 
Louiis in College I learned some things 
and my wound being healed, for some 
cfiuisie I was remoived to the penjiten- 
tiary at Alton Illinois, which I en- 
joyed more than being in college, as 
I isoon recruiited suf fioiently to throw 
away my criuitchesi and enjoy the asiso- 
ciation of the one thousand other 
prisoners, whom the Undited States 
had kiindly sent North to spend the 
siumimer and recuperate and gatlier 
strength for tlie fatigue of coming 
campaigns. We received aa good treat- 
ment in the Alton prison as prisoners 
could expect in time of war. We re- 
lieved the tedium of oiur confinment 
by mamufacturing every conceiivable 
kind of tninklet of Sitone, wood, or 
any other mateirial we could get that 
our few tools would work. I saw a vio- 
lin made there that was. a work of art. 

There was great excitement among 
the officers and guards, of the prison 
one ndight. I leaj-ned next mor.ndn.g 
that a Mdssonrdj officer, Colonel Mc- 
Laughlin, and twenty- fiive of his men 
had escaped by tunneling under the 
prison walls. Of cour®e the outside 
sentinel hiad been brihed, at least we 
so thought. 

After three months of prison life 
at Alton we were marched on board I 
transports., which w.e.re protected by j 
gunboats, and conveyed to within one j 
mile and opposdite Viicksburg landin(g, 

4. 



where wie were regularly excbanged 
and soon crosis-ed over to Viicksburg 
where the sympathiiZing sons, aaid 
daughteirs of Dixie., in anticipation of 
our arrival, had prepared a boumitiful 
feast for ua, such a one as makes, a 
ragged soldier feel like rising up at 
it.-; end and exclaiming: "Fate can- 
not harm me today foar I have din- 
ed." 

After -eating until the provender 

did not tasite good any more I con- 
cluded .to look around for siome one I 
knew and soon discovered the fami- 
liar faces of seventeen of the Second 
Texas boys, who had been captured 
like myself, at Shiloh, but had been 
in pri.son at Camp Douglas near Chir- 
cago and had just been exchan.ged. 

Concluding that we were free to re- 
sume our oooupation of wrestling with 
tlie boys in blue for possession of 
their commissaries and to meet wiith 
success would need the riest of the 
boys, we boarded a train for .Jackson 
Mississippi, in siearch of our regiment. 
Not hearing anything of it upon our 
arrival there went into an exchange 
camp nearby on Pearl River, electing 
a captain of our little company in 
order to draw rations. 

We promptly began to woiTy Gen- 
eral Pemberton, his adjutants and 
every one elee who would listen to us 
with anxious and retpeated requests for 
information as to the whereabouts of 
the Second Texas, for we were all 
exceedingly eager for a sight of the 
boys once more. Ten or twelve days 
passed without the slightest informa- 
tion being obtained, when the whole 
camp of the exchange men, about a 
hun.dred in inumber, were ordered to 
report to General Pemberton' s head- 
quarters for organization into a regi- 
ment, although half of the men were 
convalescent and unable to shoulder 
a musket. There were, however, loaf- 
ing around headquarters in Jackson 
able bodied Lieutenant-Colonels, Maj- 
ors., Captains and Lieutenants., enough 
to officer half a dozen regiments, all 



LM" ■ UW. ' ^Jli.U^UUJjaL.LL 



anxious to coanmarui this new regiimeait member that soem© as long as my 
We eiighteen poor, ignoraait Texas miiid enidure® for it tauglit m« to ap- 
privateSi could not rsadily accoujit I preoate tlie fact that men are not 
for this, but finally conicluded that I always what tbey seem. General 



tbey were the soJe survivors of their 
command, which had all been killed 
or captured, but as thisi did not au- 



iMoore was a graduate of West Poiint, 
a strict disciplinarian with rather a 
haughty air, but when we aaw him 



gur well for their oare of their mien j mingling his tears, with those of the 
or their bravery on the baittle field, ] ragged, foot-sore returned prisoners 
w^ concluded to immediately make a ! we knew that beneath his grim and 
roar by presenting oureelvesi at head- 1 cold exterior there beat a heart as 
quarters and demanding peirmissaon I tender as a little child's. Such ex- 
t.-> go to Hollow Springs., Mississippi | pressions of fedliiia.g together with 
where we hoped to get hews of our j aynipathetic acts of a thousand kinds 
regiment. The commanding general, afforded a bond of trust between 
after remonstratilng with a«i on the icA- many of our officers and their men 
ly of going in search of a regiment that nothing but death could break, 
the whereabouts of which we knew i Soldiers will follow such leaders. In- 
nothing an seeing that we were obsti- 1 to most death-dealing hail of buUets 
nate and determined, at last reluctant , without deliberations or fear of the 
ly granted us the required permission i consequences. 

and tranaportatlon. j Upon returning to the ranks I 

The next day found us in Hollow found many a gap in the line, missed 

Springs and after two days in which \ many a familiar face. Some had dl- 



time we subsisted alone on red per- 
Ktmrnons, we weire made happy by the 
information that the Second Texas 
was in the vicinity and a few days af- 



ed upon the field of battle, some sack 
ened and pastsed away, some disappear- 
ed none could sa,y whither. Those 
yet left had became inured to expos- 



terward had the pleasure of being iire and hardship. Whole-souled jolly 



quartered under the old flag again. 

Our old Colonel, now General Moore 

he having been promoted for gailan- 



fellows every one with a heart for 
every fate. I was thrown with troops 
from almost every state, both North 



try on the battle field of Shiloh, was j and South, during my four years in 
In command of the brigade to which , the army and I feel confident that 
the Second Texas belonged. We had \ the Texas Volunteer excelled them all 
hardly shaken hands wi^h half of j for light-heiarted joMty ajnd"don't giive 



our friends nor had a chauice to re- 
ply to shouts of welcome and words 
of eoingratulatioi-'S from the boys in 
the ranks before we had orders to 
inarch in a body to the General's tent 
where we soon lined up. No sooner 
ha,d we halted than the General ap- 
peared, grasped each of us by the 
hand and with tears trickling down 
his cheeks spoke to us of the joys he 
felt at see'ng us back again safe and 
sound and congratulated us upon our 
peiTseverance in overoomimig so many 
obstacles in our efforts to array our- 
selves once more under the flag of 
our beloved Second Texas. I ©hall n- 



a darn" under all circumstances. He 
accepted whatever the fates dealt out 
to him, good or bad, perhaps grum- 
bled for a minute if very b.pjd. then 
laughed and joked the reet of the day 
and half the night. The prophet 
Jeremiah was much givon to lamenta- 
tion,s, yet he said a merry hG.art is 
a continual feast, and that ic about 
all those Texas soldiers had to feast 
on for many consecutive hours on 
numerous occasions. 
The jolliest most quizical of all my 
chums was noted for the uncertaintv 



of bis temper and I shall conitent 
my,sielf by calling him Sargcaat Bill. 
At ithe time of which I am writiug 
Biy was about twcinty-five years old, 
six feet two iucbesi in heighth and 
straight as an Indian chief, v/Lth long 
black hair a:^d cyeB. of the same color 
BO pierciing that they seemed to pene- 
trate one e^en tO' the sole of his booits 
wheiniover Biil v/as deeiply ir. earnest. 
A native of Virginia, he had cocme to 
Texas in his early youth so that na- 
ture and education had combined i in 
his make-up a chivalrous ideal of th.e 
old Virginia Cavalier, together with 
the dare-deviil necklesisness of the Tex- 
ii.- cowboy, and to slightly paraphrase 
Shakespeare the elements i-jo mixed in 
him that nature might eitand up cind 
say to all the world: "Here ia a 
soldier." 

Bill had boon oaie of the first to re- 
spond to his State's call to arms and 
expresced his firm belief that every 
anale from sixteen to one hundred able 
to shoulder a gun, should bo in the 
field under his country's banner. He 
swore that the orily cause cf our fail- 
ure to crush the United States and 
end the war in a year was a mortify- 
ing fact that there were thousands 
o" able-bodied men in the South who 
not only refuced to volunteer but 
were skulkir.g in the brush to escape 
beinig conscripted. He could not a- 
bide a conscript, his idea being that 
a man who had to bo farced into, the 
army would not fight and wae^ good 
for nothinig but to dig tre-nchcs after 
he got there. 

Bill had devoted himsolf to profnn- 
ity in all of its various brancheis. For 
artistic conception and brilliant execu- 
tion his oaths stand without a para- 
lel in the annals of war. I first be- 
came acquaimtcd with him durniig our 
journey from Houoton while wo were 
camped for the night at Wise'si Bluff. 
His discerning eye dis-covered a ware- 
hotise containing several barrels of 
"joy to the world" tonic. Procuring 
an auger he crawled under the buiid- 



ing, bored through the floor and ithe 
bottom of one of these barrels and 
prccecded to draw off the precious 
fluid. Having filled all the vessels 
a\'ailable he drove a plug in the hole, 
revurned to camp and informed the 
beys of the windfall. 

On my return to the regimemt my 
phyaical condition was far from sat- 
isfactory the regimental physician re- 
portdng that I was afflicted with phth-' 
is pulmonus and unfit for duty. I 
was offered a discharge but being 
atill hopeful and zealous for our cause 
I refused to accept, thereupon was 
ordered to Quitman, Mies., to recup- 
erate. Quitman was a health resort 
before the civil war. A hospital for 
convalescent Tiexas soldiers in charge 
of Dr. Bryant of Houston wasi loicated 
one mile from town, near one of the 
finest and boldest springa I have ev- 
er seen, the water of which is strong- 
ly impregnated with red sulphur. I 
soon discovered that the diet furnish- 
ed in the hospital was as everywhere 
else in the Confederate Army, cut 
rather short without any frills or 
tucks. In fact at was- plain, so very 
plain thait it became U'ecessary for 
the inmateS' to embellish it somewhat 
in order to make life worth living. 

Rest and the sulphur water seemed 
to engender in u& a decided and con - 
tinual hankering for poultry, fresh 
pork and fruits. These our generous 
compatriots in the vicinity furnished 
US' with true Southern hospitality. We 
juL't made a requisition for such eat- 
ables as were available and then all 
that was necessary tOi procur them 
was to step up to the eooip, pen or 
tree and draw them. We generally 
selected a dark night to draw these 
delicacies, for fowls are much easier 
handled at night and as our good 
neighbors who so^ kindly furnished us 
were at that time soundly sleeping 
off the fatigue of their daily toils 
we were exceedinigly careful not to 
awaken them. Thus, thanks to the 
noble Mississiippians who raised and 



f umdishieid us with so many of the good 
things of life, we were^ enabled, if 
not to wear purple and firn© linen, at 
least to fare eumiptously every day. 
The ahoive mientiomed diet, together 
with the healing wateris of the sul- 
phur springe., cured my honrihle disr 
ease in about forty days. 

Having be^en so successful in find- 



©ooil, 
Who'd harm the dear creajture® for 

pasision. or gold." 
About January 1st, 1873, I rejoin- 
ed my regimieint at Camp Timmonis, 
seven miles above Viicksbiur^g,, where 
it had gone into winter quarters. Ev- 
ery one was in good spirits aind liv- 
ing as well as past experienoei liin *he 



iiig health and many other blesisings service gave them reason to expeot. 
in this vicinity 1 was fain to linger | General Boiuregard had been succeed- 
but in the latter part of December Dr i ed as division coimmaiijdeir by Gener- 



Bryant cruelly ordered me to join my 
command. Before the receipt of this 
unwelcome order eight or ten of us 
pre-cmpited a jug of what is known 
in this/ section as "mountain dew,'' 
and after supper we gathered in the 
dining room of the hospital and pro- 
ceeded to vex the drowsy ear of night 
with maudlin mirth. After spreading 
the festive board and mixing a good 
strong decoction, which for want of 
a better name I will call punch, toasts 
were proposed. Among the first was 
"Our Country", responded to as fol- 
lows: 
"Here's to our country, may she ever 

be free, 
As the winds of the mountains or 

the waves of the sea; 
May the hearts of her sons n'er fail 

in her need, ' 

But drive from her soil the Yankee 

breed." 
The second toast was proposed to 
"Our Sweethearts" and was reispond- 
e:l to thus: 
Our sweethear'^s dear, to them we 

drink. 
Though nameless here, of them we 

think: 
Here's health to them and wealth to 

them, 
With every blesisiing else to them." 

Then someone proposed a toast to 
"Women" which 
this way : 

Here's to our women, God blpsr' them 
And death to the man who'd op- 
press them; 



al Maury, who was^ an able officer 
and very popular. The omly fault the 
boys found with hiim was; his weakness 
for general review,, dress parade etc. 
The veterans of the rank and file ser- 
iously objected to theGe "circus par- 
adies" as they called them, beicause 
they imposed upon them a hard day's 
work marching and counter marching 
for no earthly purpose which they 
could underetand except to give the 
officers an opportunity to show them 
selves off in all their glory to an ad- 
miring croiwd of fashionables and 
society matrons who drove out from 
the city to onr reviews. General 
I Maury was a splendid horseman and 
of commanding appearance and no 
doubt impreseed many sentimental 
female eyes as a "thing of beauty 



and down the line of troops on his 
?piriked charger. But with the boys 
in the ranks it was quite different. 

Among the crowd of spectators on 
the days of review were many silly 
girls who adored an officer's uniform 
no matter how unworthy of it was 
the man inside. The attention of a 
member of the staff filled these fair 
damsels with deiliroUiS. joy while the 
flattering notice of a handsome gen- 
eral in command threw thiem into such 
spasms, of ecstatic delight that the 
was responded to nerves of a few of them (never recov- 
I ered from the shock. To these thought- 
le&s creatures what appeared so grand 
to the ragged foot-sore veterans in 
the rank© were simply a part of the 
Deairh to hiis body and death to his ' officer's equipment, like their horses 



aujd amforiDis. BeJmg fully aware of 
Uus we had decided objections to a- 
betting in tlieir folly and avoided 
revieiw whenever it waa possible to 
do so. 

Our army, of course, had a number 
of "lady killers" among our officers. 
However fiine clothes do not make a 
coward any more than^ they make a 
man and often the mos-t fastidious 
dandies would fight Idike demons 
through the smoke aoad grim of bat- 
Ue. 

Ais 1 ajn writing reminiscences and 
not history I shall pass over ithe bat- 
tles fought during my absence from 
my regiment. I learned, upon my re- 
turn th3.t the men in ranks fully ex- 
pected to fight a dicisive battle at 
Corinth with the ajrmy under General 
Halleck, which appeared before ouj 
fortifications at that place soon after 
the battle of Shiloh. This army num- 
bered ninety thousand but our men 
were ancsious to try conclusion® with 
it although our force was only about 
half as many, having held their own 
at Shiloh when the odds against them 
were as great, after marching and 
fighting for three consecutive days; 
they believed that when fresh and hav- 
ing the advantage of fortifications 
they should have won but General 
Bouregard having become satisfied 
that the fighting qualitiies. of his men 
were all that could be desired, appar- 
ently concluded to giive them a little 
ti-aining for speed, as they wene or- 
dered to retreat toward Tupelo, fif- 
ty miles distant. The boys did iiot ap- 
prove of this mode of warfare and 
General Bouregard was severely cen- 
sured by his men for the seemingly 
uncalled for retreat though some no 
doubt blessed hiim for leading them 
away from danger. 

Colonel Asihbel Smith was at this 
time, January 1863, in command of 
the Second Texas Regimeait. Colonel 
Smith was an able officer, thorough- 
ly educated amd a diiplomat of some 
note, having at one time represented 



the Republic of Texas at the court of 
France. He was quite an atlilete and 
his temper was somewhat inf lama- 
tor y and when enraged he cut such 
fantaatiic capers before hiigh heaven 
as made the angels smile. These 
bursts of anger soon passed off but 
while they lasted the Colonel danced, 
aw ore, jingled his sword and denoim- 
ced the object of has wrath in words 
that burxied holes lijn the surrounding 
atmosphere. PasKionate and eccentric 
though he was the Colonel's hearit was 
full jeweled, twenty-four karats fine 
and devoted to his men, especially the 
old volunteers in the ranks, whom he 
loved like brothers. However thiB' 
did not prevemt us from laying plans 
and executing schemes to bring on 
his crazy spells as we called them, 
and many a quiet smile or hearty 
laugh we enjoyed at the iColonel's ex- 
penise. 

Early in 1863 our regiment was re- 
cruited with conscripts, about one 
, hundred of them being chased out of 
' the brush and into our ranks. This 
I think was a mistake. Conscripts 
; and volunteers bea.ng actuated by dif- 
I f erent motives, interfere and hiinder 
i each other Mke a team composd of 
a lazy mule and a spiirdted horse, whetn 
combined in the same regijnent. Our 
conscriptSi never amalgamated with 
the "boys" as the Colonel always 
called the remnant of the original 
volunteers, which was no doubt rath- 
I er our fault than theirs, for we consid- 
, ered ourselves their superiors, an op- 
, inion even in which our officers shar- 
]ed, as (the followimfg oocuirence will il- 
lustrate. 

Owing to his eccenitric movements 
when he had a "spell" on we had 
given Colonel Smith the name of" Jin- 
gle Box". Though, of course, we did 
not use that pet name when address- 
ing him he was fully awaxe of it, hav- 
ing heard us use it iin a thousand dif- 
I f erent indirect ways without taking 
I notice but one day as he rode by an 
unlucky conscript called out to anoth- 
8. 



er; "Here comes Jingle Box". The 
Colonel liTQimediateily charged hulim and 
on hiSi taking ito the brush dismaunt- 
e.i and soooa ram him dowoa and siedz- 
ing Wm by the eai' and emphasiziag 
every other word with a hearty kick 



known BlJl'a juidgement to be eeiTJouS' 
t:' at fault It beiimg exceeidlnigly dark 
ar:d betog very tired he swoiT© he 
would advance no further witthouit 
restiing. He pivjoeeded to sit down 
on what he siuppoeed to be a liog 



h.^ iswore by the Olympic gods that no but rapidly descended about ten feet 



blank conscript should call him nam- 
e:;. The Colonel was. somewhat Irish 
when enraged. 
I have often wondered since the dark 
days of our Intesitinie strife at the 
cold-blooded, iindifference with which 
wfc at that Ume looked upon death 
and thie grave. They being hourly htf 



to the bottom of a muddy branch 
Bill's oaths and the sliouitsi of laugh- 
ttr that followed this ludicrous ac- 
cident seemed to throw a shadow of 
life over the siuirroundings sufficiently 
to enable us to fish him out of the 
diffioulty. 
Our advance guard arriived about 



fore our eyes in their various forms | eight A. M., the rear comdng about 
they siooin ceased to inspire us with i noon. I think that some of our con- 
awe and became matters to joke a- j scripts failed to show -uip at all, but 
bout, While out foraging one day I none appeared to know or care. Dur- 
with Sargeamt Bill we discovered a ing the afternioon we embarked on 
pair of graves. M the bead of -them i a itransiport and steamed up the rlv- 



was a pine board upon which the fol- 
lowing lineSi were written.: 
"The Yankee herds and thievimg' 

bands, 
Came South to rob our houses and 

steal our lands; 
But this narrow comitraoted spot, 
Is all this poor Yankee ever got" 

The other gnave being unmarked we 
decided that the poetaster, after delilv- 
ering himself of the above epitath, 
had immediately fallen dead from ex- 
haustioai, necet'sarily foUowimg his 
monumental effort, and some kinidly 
disposed pas&er-by interred him be- 
side his late en-emy. Acting upon 
this concluiSiion Bill proceeded to set 
Up a board at the head of the un- 
marked grave inscribed thus: 
"Here lies a monumental poet, 
His neighbor's epitath will show it. 

About twelve o'clock one cold wet 
night the latter part of January 1863 
w* received ordersi to cook the usual 
three days rations preparatory to 
marchiing. Two hours afterward 
Camp Timmons was deserted and we 
were tramping through the darkness 
toward Snyder's Bluff, seven miles 
distant on the Yazoo river. This was 
the only occaEion I remember to have 



er for Yazoo City. This, mode of 
transportation w.as very unpopulftr 
with the boys. They even preferred 
marching to being packed aboard 
like fowls cooped for market, with, no 
opportunity to augment thedr scanty 
rations by contribution® from the siur- 
pounding country. Our first night 
afloat pasised off quieitly. Some reliev- 
ed tbe monotoaiy by playing. cards, oth- 
ers by singling songs^ I give below 
one of these songs written by a 
member of our regiment, which has 
never appeared in print: 

SHILOH, 
Draw near my gallaait comrades and 

a story to yon I'll sing, 
.V sad and mournful song of war, 

tears to your eyes twill bring; 
One April morn on Shiiloh'® plain® the 

rising sun displayed. 
One hundred thousand soldiers in bat- 
tle line arrayed. 
Soon drum and fife proclaimed the 

hour that we must march away. 
Mid canon's roar and musket's crack 
to mingle in the fray. 



9. 



CHORUS. 

Croas ShiJoh's fields tbe bullets sped, 
(Ji\ Shiioii s hills full niaiiy bled — 
On Shiloii's plains lay thoaisands dead 
\\ hue tihilou s rilis ran. red with 
blood. 

Time after time we charged the foe 

who made a iiitubboroi sitand, 
And ere the sun had reached the 

West we fought them hand to hand. 
At last their solid ranks we broke 

and scattered them afar, 
And then the vale of night fell down 

and closed the scene of war. 
The memory of that bloody day the 

heart with anguish fills, 
For dead and dieing everywhere lay 

thick on Shiloh's hills. 

When mornime'iS ^hl once more ap- 
peared dru,ms beat to arms again, 
Unmindful of the dieing and heedless 

of tihe slain; 
And soon the canon^s deadly mouth 

renewed its an©ry roar, 
Ten thousand fell and thousaaids sped 

to battle never more. 
Each place in ra^nks may be refililed 

but not in heavy hearits, 
That watch and pray for thear return 
throughout our country's pairtfl'. 
This song is set to the tune of Joe 
Bowers. 

Life on board had become distress- 
ingly duU and I saw from a well 
known expression on BilFs coujnten- 
ance that something was Mkely to 
happen soon to break the monotony, 
».> was not all surprieed when on the 
morning folJowinng it was suddely 
shivered into a thousand fragments. 
Someone had during the niight dis- 
figured the mane and tiail of the Col- 
onel's black charger to such an ex- 
tent that we were unable to recog- 
nize him . The resulting "crazy 
&peU" was one of the most excrus-- 
iating that we ever succeeded in 
bringing on the Colonel. He charged 
up and down the deck, beat the floor 



with his sword and swore that if the 
dastard who did tihis unholy deed did 
not come forward to be hung immed- 
iately he would throw the whole re- 
giment in ironjj annd anake the last 
one of thexu draw for a black bean 
and shoot the man who got it for an 
example. 

Soon after this naval engagement, 
in which so many Idives were threat- 
ened and none lost, we reached Ya- 
zoo City, landed and marched to the 
suburbs where we went into camp. 

This picturesque little city is tJiur 
rounded by a beautiful and fertile 
country which had never, to this time 
been invaded by the soldiers of eith- 
er army, t:o chickens were crowing 
and fat hogs grunting in every di- 
rection. Such attractive sights and 
charming sounds created among us 
a strong desire to establish perman- 
ent headquarters but it turned out 
to be another case of "Twas ever 
thus since childhood's early hotir", 
for much to their chagrin the regi- 
ment was ordered to re-embark next 
day. Together wiith one other man 
I had beeui out on a foraging expedi- 
tion and knew nothing of the depar- 
ture of the command until our re- 
turn the followLnjg morning. When dis 
covering that the camp was vacated 
and not a soldier to be found we held 
a council of war and concluded that 
the las-t scoundrel of them had de- 
serted and decided to hold the fort 
for funther orders. On the morning of 
the third day, with visions of the 
guard house and a bread and water 
diet before his eyes, my companion 
deserted me and went in search of 
the regiment. Though left forlorn 1 
was not alone by any means for the 
citizens of the city soon took me in 
hand and entertained me Uke a Maj- 
or-Gen eral. But the faireet day has 
its night and my holiday was sud- 
denly obscured by the arrival of Cap- 
tain McGinnis of my regiment who 
promptly attached me to a squad of 

10. 



ten juen, sent out under him to giath- 
er a bunch of negroe® ito l>e used in 
building fortdfications. 

The Captain, who had come down 
by boait, soon prooured hiimiseJif a 
good hoTfse, nioumted, gave the com- 
mand to "forward, march," and my 
elysdium was no moire. We had not 
proceeded far before (the Captain, 
casting hiis eyes over th^e landscape, 
caduaJly remarked: "Boys, this ap- 
pears to be a beautiful and prosper- 
ous counitry. Horses and sa;ddle,s 
must be quite plentiiful around here." 
This seeimingly unimportant remark 
was suffiicient to transfer mb from in- 
fantry to cavalry service, for witliout 
further orders we werte soon alj moun- 
ted. I was among the fiiirist (to secure 
a "charger" in the shape of a mule, 
which I found hiitched in the out- 
skirts of the City. I christened my 
mount Prestigiitator, because he play- 
ed me so many tjrioks, and my com- 
panions soon changed my appelation 
to aachariah on account of my be- 
ing compelled to cliimb a tree to 
luounl kiim with safety. On miy re- 
turn four days later I left the mule 
c'xai'lty where I had "conscripted" 
him. and never heard from him again. 
His owner, no doubt, had long before 
be^u convinced from his actions that 
the Leas: was an emisary of Belze- 
bub and was not at all surpriised to 
find 'uui in the same spot where he 
had left hdm after an unacoountable 
abi:enc(- of four days. We captured 
Lhe 'vquired numbi ,r of negroes, some 
twenty five or thirty and when we 
returned loaded them on a trans- 
poit 'i;d prorM>^v'.ed up the river *o 
the mouth of the Yellow Bushy riv- 
er wheire the fortitications were in 
course of construction. These blacks 
were used exclusively as laborers. I 
ntver saw an {"'nied negro in the 
Confederate sreviice. Tihe chief fault 
of o:m' soldiers was their contempt 
for the spade. Very few of thiem had 
been accustomed to hard manuial lab- 



or and avoided trench diiggang as 
mux^h as possible, often to our disad- 
vaitagi- 

Aifter delivering our charges we 
joined our regiimemt, which we found 
lr»ca*ed at Fori I'emberton, near the 
conjunotion of the Tallahasae and 
"fa'.oo risers. Ihi^ Font had been 
recently con,structed as a part of the 
Tne of defense of Vicksburg against 
General Grant, that city bedag the 
last stronghold on the Miseissippi 
river in our posseission after the fall 
of New Orleans. Thde Fort was not 
a brilliant example of military engi- 
neering. A shell from a gunboat had 
exploded a magazine, killing and se- 
verely wounding twelve or fifteen 
men, which oocured soon after our 
arrival. We always referred to it 
as a slaughter pen. While we were 
here we were confronted on several 
occasions by a portion of Grant's ar- 
my, but they did not attack \is., and 
as we stood stri.ctly on the defensive 
no engagements occured. An occas- 
ional shelling by a gunboat was tlie 
only fire of the enemy we were ex- 
posed to while in this vicinity, and 
as these did not venture near enough 
to do much damage their shelling 
merely served to break the monotony 
of camp Mfe. 

The outposits of the opposing army 
were on several occasions just op- 
posite each other on the river, which 
was at this place about seventy five 
yards wiide. The pickets on these 
posts would often amuse each other 
by tantaMzdng or joking. Often the 
guards entered imto all the prelimin- 
ariies for exchanging rations, news- 
papers, etc.,, but no exchange ever 
actually occured. 

We had in our regiment a young 
Irishman, brave as a lion and of 
powerful physic, who, when drinking 
was dangerous to either fnend or 
foe that crossed him. This man, 
whose name was Ferrdn, had gotten 
the idea into his head that our M«j- 

11. 



or was. prejudiced agaimet hiim, and i ceedlngly scaince while we Wiere atat- 



used hiiS. authority to vent his per- 
sonal spite agaiintit him. Thais officer 
ordered Fiernn to draw off the car- 
cas of a dead nxule froim the proxi- 
mity of the camp. Being in a surely 
mood the Irishman told him to point 
bis nose in the diroiotion of hadioa 
and t-o "double quick." This- enrag- 
ed the Major and he struck him a 
blow wiith the flat of his sword. Far- 
rin, wild with passion, iimmeddatcly 
seized a pieice of rai,l lydmig at his 
feet and would have brained the Maj- 
or om the spot had he noit turned and 
fled. The Major made for a crowd 
of men who sa.w them coming ait tuW 
speed and begaai to laugh and yell, 
.chociring first one and then the othier 
until (the whale oamp wasi in an up- 
roar. The officer ran iaiito the crowd 
and someone tripped up Ms pursurcr 
and he was secured. The laughing 
of the crowd brought Ferrin to his 
senses an,d he did not try to ca^xh 
the Major. 

Graiht's movomentiB. indicating that 
he had no intentl/ons of approach ing 
Vicksburg from the diiroction in which 
we lay we were ordered to evacuate 
l-'ort Femberton aaid rieturn to Camp 
Timmons seven miles, above Vicks- 
burg. This was welcome news to all 
the boys as there was not a single 
chicken left to annoiunce the coming 
of morn and the voice of the porkor 
was no more heard, 
mons the enemy made a feeble at- 
Soon after our a-rrivalat Camp Tim- 
tempt to land troops at Chickamau- 
ga Bayon. nearhy, but as they with- 
drew after a slight skirmish our of- 
ficers concluded that this was a ruse 
to cover G-eneral Grant'Si real Inten- 
tioiiis and we were ordered to War- 
rington, on the Mississippi., twenty 
miles below Vdokaburg. 

Herie was located a Fort with a few 
heavy guns commanding the river 
which up to the time had succeeded 
in preventing the passage of the ene- 
my's gunboats. Provisions became ex- 



lianed at Warrington, and ciontinued 
so until a piece of bacon was liooik'ed 
upon as. a treasure to be jealiousiliy 
guanded. Coil. Smith had begged, 
bought or stolen a piece of a hog 
which he had conjcealed under his 
cot. During a lUight his. dreams were 
disturbed by something apparently 
crawling under his cot. Seizing his 
sword in one hand while he made a 
quick grab with the other he grasped 
the hand of a oanscrl.pt. I.,eading his 
prisoaier out into the light of the 
campflre the Colonel minutely exam- 
ined his crest-fallen countenance and 
exclaimed: "I 'kn.ew that it was a 
blamed conscript. If it had been one 
of ith.e old boys I never would have 
gotten, my hands on him". Then giv- 
ing him a kick he neurned to hiis 
slumbers. 

Hunger hath no ears, neither hath 
it a conscienioe. Pushed on by hope 
or fear of .scorn men will brave the 
terrors of the battle fie.ld with the 
mosit reckless abandon but few in- 
deed are thos.e who ha vei'thie moral foi'- 
titude to leave the pangs of hunger 
In their own stomachs half appeased 
in order to relieve a Sitarving com- 
rade to a similiar extent. The qual- 
ity and quantity of our rations con- 
tinued to get no. better while at War- 
ringtom, .so much so it required the 
utmost Lnguinity on the part of each 
of us to keep the lamp of life alight. 
Some one discovered that the ewamp 
around our camps were full of wild 
bees and a hunt for the trees con- 
taining their stoii'.es of honey was or- 
ganized. By working all day in the 
mud and water up to o-ur waists, for 
we were compellied to wade bayous 
which heire run into the Miissdssippi, 
we succeeded in. gathering a suffici- 
ent quantity to supply the whole re- 
giment with at least one full meal of 
this delicious sweet. 

The lord temp.ereth the wind to the 
shorn lamb Siome.tini.es and we made 
another discovery of naturie's bounty 



12. 



on thl© expeditio-n. We found thie a- 
bt>ve meaitiomied bayoua canitainied iu- 
uumerable icraw-»tiii3.h, which we capliur- 
ed in great profusion. Then after 
these were cooked they added much 
io the reliish of our corn dodger. 

On May the fifteenth, 1863 we hur- 
riedly marched into Viicksbiurg, tak- 
ing our position in the trenches in 
the rear of the city. We soon found 
that General Grant with a force said 
to be one hundred thousand Sitrong 
had just attacked General Pember-- 
ton on the Big Black river, defeated 
him and drove his imferior force be- 
hind the fortifications at Vicksburg 



va&tating charigea the boys lu bliU'e 
concluded they had enough for the 
once and withdrew ia disorder. It 
was during one of these bloody as- 
Liaulte that a etandard-bearer of the 
enemy reached our breastworks and 
planted his flag on, top and jumped 
down among our boys unhurt. Many 
of the boyis who saw this said," This 
Yankee was loaded with gun powder 
and whiskey on the inside." But 
Sargeant Bill swore by the eiternal 
that whiile it was an insult Lt was. true 
bravery and we should do him the 
justice to acknowledge iit. 
The battle raged for about five hours 



and was rapidly advancing with an i during which itime the enemy, so it 



overwhelming army. 



was stated at the time, lost twenty 



On the morninig of the sixteenth of thouaand men. Nearly all our con- 
Alay we found our whole syste^m of scripts and raw volunteers fired 



breastworks exteaiding in a semi'Cir- 
cle around the city to a junction with 
the river above and below, seven mil- 
ea in length confron'ted by a heavy 
line. PreparationiB were made to meet 
the charge which was momentarily 
expected. Aanunition wias issued more 
freely than rations. Com,pany offir- 
cers laid aside their swords and took 
up muskets. Parsons withdrew under 
the bluffs of the river, I suppose that 
their prayers for our success might 
ascend to the throne of grace unmix- 
ed with the unholy sound of war. 
Many of our third Lieutenaints discov- 
ered sudden demands for their servic- 
es as cooks at headquarters or other 
detached duties far from the madden- 
ing crowd in blue. We conferred 
the title of "dog robbers" on these 
cooks. 

On the morning of the 22nd of 
May Grant began a series of desper- 
ate charges all along our front, throw 
ing fifty thousand men against our 
lines, composed of twenty thousand 
men. The shocks were terrihle and 
for a while it looked asi though we 
would be overwhelmed and trampled 
under foot by mere force of numbers. 
However after several bloody and de- 



their first volley up into the air. But 
having their attention brought to the 
fact that the enemy were in front and 
not flying over- head they did fair 
execution. 

Two days after the assault on oiur 
breastworks there was a truce declar- 
ed, Iiastlmg three hours to enable the 
enemy to bury their dead, which lay 
thick upon the field, some of them 
just outside our trenches. 

There were many heroic acts per- 
formed during this battle. One of 
the boys picked up one of the enemy's 
shells with a burning fuse that had 
dropped among his companiomsi, ran 
to a pool of water and threw it in, 
thus extinguishing the fuse and mak- 
ing the shell harmless. 

During this truce, although it was 
contrary to orders, a few lof us evad- 
ed the guards and repaired to a plum 
orchard, some distance inside the 
enemy's lines, where, while filling 
ourselves with fruit, we ran across 
sevieral United States Soldiers on a 
similiar errand. We engaged in friend- 
ly conversation, taking pains however 
to get separated before the truce ex- 

1 pired. 

I The siege went on and the solid 
shots broke down our embankments 

13. 



more and more every day. Many of 
our guns wene diisanantled,, men were 
droppiing every wliere along itiie liiae 
and ratioias grew lesai at every issiue 
until mey were tinftily reduced to 
one-fourth the prescribed amiount. 
This would have ooiily beea an. inoea- 
tive to figliit in the open field where 
victory would bning us the ©neiray'» 
camp and stores but under the cir- 
cumstanices iit only diiaoouraged us. I 



thufl with empty sitonaache and our 
skin from head tx> hieela priioked by 
the -savage body lice, on the morn- 
ing of July third a lone horseiman 
approached the trenchefl from the 
direction of heaidquarters, leaped his 
horse over the embankment and un- 
funled a wMte flag. Thiia man as 
brave as NapoJeon's guard wept tears 
of grim despair. With shot and siheJJ 
sweeping the ground aU about him, 



think the history of the war will show, the horseman aped on with face aa 



that the Northern, troops exceliled in 
building and defending fortifications 
while we were superior to them in 
charges and endurance. 

Grant's "sappers" gradually extend- 
ed their trenches nearer and nearer to 
our Unes. His aritiUery bombarded 
us and every resource known to 
modem warfare was brought against 
us until many l>eoame discouraged but 
with some, the more desperate our 
conditions grew the more desperate 
they became.. I remember a staff of- 
ficer, Major Hal Runnels of Houston, 
who seemed to court death daily. 
There was a piece of rising ground 
that was swept continually by shot 
and shell to such an extent that ev- 
ery one avoided it. But this officer, 
in passing from headquarters to the 
trenches, walked on this death trap 
as calmly as if he were taking a 
walk in a quiet garden far from the 
scenes of war. When he reached the 
trenches 1 often saw him mount the 
fortificatione to examine the positijon 
of the enemy through a field glass 
while the air was full of sheils all 
around him. I do not know whether 
he was killed or not but if he escap- 
ed he must have been under special 
proteotdon of the god of war. 

Day after day it was reportedi that 
General Joseph E. Johnson was com- 
ing to our relief and would fall on 
Grant tomorrow hut if tomorrow ev- 
e.' came Johnson did not 

After forty-eight days of constantly 
watching and fighting on quarter ra- 
tions our commisBary entirely failed. 



white as the flag he bore, (for it was 
not for victory that his life was im- 
perilled,) and soon disappeared in 
the enemy's line. The end had come. 
Thousands of failures had been writ- 
ten by general's, newspaper corre&- 
pondents, aides and "dog robbers." on 
the siege of Vicksburg, explaining in 
a huiwired different ways why we 
were not re-inforoed or relieved. The 
only one' that I have to offer is that 
the political aspiratlions and bicker- 
ings between our commander and 
the Richmond authorities were the 
sole cause of the fall of the last 
stronghold in the Missiissippl. 

On the morning of the Fourth of 
July we stacked our arms and marchr 
ed about a mile to the rear, in the 
direction of the river, in charge of 
United States guards. Many were 
the surmises- as to what our fate 
would ba Visions of close confln- 
ment in Northern prisona floated he- 
fore our eyes while the conscripts 
shook with fear of immediate execu- 
tion, for Sargeant Bill had told them 
that Grant had all coniscrlpts shot 

Late in the afternoon General 
Grant issued the first full rations we 
had had in many a day, thus for the 
second time our whole regiment was 
fed at the expense of the United 
States government, but under how 
different and much more humiliating 
circumstances than on the former oc- 
casion at Shiloh. Many of the boys 
thought that this kindness shown us 
was to make the surrender more com- 



14. 



plet« and that it would b© oouniter 
balQiiced by added criielty in tit© fu- 
ture but I had been In Grant's hands 
before and knew him ito bie hiumane, 
making war only on those with arms 
in their hands so was not afraid. 

We soon learned tJxat we were ito 
be paroled, and after paying our in- 
debtedness to the inner man with com- 
pound interest at u&urous rates our 
cheerfulnesB gradually began to re- 
turn- 

The few bibles which had been In 
evidence disappeared. Cards were re- 
sumed and dreams of home entered 
the brains of many of us. Home 
meant quiet nights and peaceful days, 
no weary houra on guard,, no shriek- 
ing shot or shell. It seemed like the 
baseless fabric of a dream. 

On the eleventh day, haviing receiv- 
ed our parole from the United States 
authorizing us to go where we pleas- 
ed and oommand ourselves according 
to our own free will, with the excep- 
tion that we were not to talte up arms 
against the Umited States until we 
were exchanged, we marched outside 
the fortifiioatioms and dispersed. 

The rank and file of our regiment 
being exceediinglylanxious for a glimp- 
se of the prairies of Texas once more 
concluded to take advantage of their 
eaforoed furlough and visit their old 
homes in spite of the earnest expec- 
tations of Colonel Smith that we 
would follow him to Raymond, Mis- 
sissippi where a camp of paroled men 
had been established. We soon set 
out on our pedestrain jaunt of three 
hundred miles which we considered 
no more than a pleasure excursion 
after what we had undergone. 

With light hearts and light bag- 



homie. 

After crossing the riiver all of Ckxm- 
pany K. except four, Inoltiding myself 
concluded to take the lower and shoir- 
ter route by way of Alexandria, La., 
while we chose the better but longer 
way by Natchitoches on Red River. 
For subflilstenjce we, of course, had to 
depend upon what w© could beg, bor- 
row or steal. However we set out 
gaily singing "Homeward Bound We 
Sweetly GUde," trusting in the bib- 
lical assurance that "sufficiient unto 
the day is the evil thereof." 

We found the people along our rout©, 
though illy provided themselves, will- 
ing to divide the last morsel wiith us 
and we had free access to the fruit 
which was ripe on the treesv at many 
places overhanging our road. I re- 
member one feast that came to us 
in rather an unexpected way. W© 
had stopped for the night in the sub- 
urbs of a small village one afternoon 
before sunset. Having managed in 
some way to get hold of a canteen 
of rum we were soon quite jolly,. One 
of my oomrads had stretched out for 
a quiet snooze when I placed a revol- 
ver, which we had smuggled out of 
Vicksburg, on his head for a rest 
and fired. He arose in a storm of 
wrath. The other boys began to laugh 
and yell at us, which attracted the 
attention of an old gentleman sitting 
on his porch, who ran out and en- 
tered into conversation with us and 
invited us to spend the night with 
him. W^e were well provided for con- 
sidering the times. 

The next momdnjg we took our depar- 
ture. After twenty days afoot through 
Louisiana we reachied Beaumont, Tex- 
as, where we were furnished rai^- 



gage we trudged along like school j road transportation to Houston. Up- 
boyia on a holiday, our only draw- on our arrival there we were taken 
back being blistered feet, for on in hand by aptpreciative citizens, well 
account of our long confinment in. the i entertained and our tattered gar- 
trenches at Vicksburg many of the | ments replaced with new ones, 
boys' feet had grown tender and dls- 1 From Houston we reached our des- 
comoded them in their ha&te to get | ti nation at Texanna in a few hours by 

15. 



raii and stage and I was once more , tion we were conveyeid by rail to.San- 
weicojcaed bemeaLh the parental vime ' dy Point amid from there mafchied to 



and tig U'ee. 

About the fii-st of October 1863, we 
received notice thait the Secomd Tex- 
as liad been exchanged ajid was to 
be reorgandzed at Hoiustoai. Though 
there was some doubt as to our be- 
ing regularly exchamged, all the old 
members fit for duty reported as 
soooi as thi® order reached them. 
Our Colonel soon convinced us that 
our exchange was all right and that 
we were not going to fight with a 
rope airoiund each of our necks, for 
hanging is^ the puniislimen,t meted out 
to captured soldiers who have brok- 
en thieir parole. 

We organized at the same camp 
about two mites from Houstoai where 
two years before we had originally 
entered into the service of ithe Con- 
federate States a& a regiment. We 
were at that time volunteers, nearly 
everyone young and thoughtless, fill- 
ed with exhuberant hopee and strodig 
in the belief that our regdanemt could 
wipe ithe beat brigade of Yankees 
that ever enterd the field off the face 
of the earth any morning before break- 
fast. 

But now what a chamge had come 
over the spirit of our dreams. We 
had fought, starved and laid in pris- 
on for two years until our ramfcs were 
reduced to two hundred and ftfity of 
the volumteers, who though resolved 
to stand by our country as long as 
life stood by us, were withouit enthus- 
iasm and almost without hope. We 
had learnied many thimgs about war 
that tended to lessen our zeal for 
glory thereby, ajnd though we etill 
answered the bugle call promptly, 
there was no spontaneous hopes of 



Columbia an the Brazos river. Arriv- 
ing at Columbia we boarded a trans- 
port and weairt; down the Brazos, to 
VeJasco, for what piirpose we never 
fournd out as there was no enemy iu 
miles of this place. Some of the boy 3 
said that we had probably come down 
for aea-bathimg. It beiaig the middle 
of winter and our camp bei.ng located 
on a bare beach where we had no 
protection froim the bitter North wind 
that prevailed, we came niear freez- 
ing on several occasions. Finally we 
had orders to move West of the Braz- 
os river about four mi lee where the 
country was heavily timbered and 
we were protected from the wind. 

In January 1864 we were removed 
to Cedar Lake, six miles from the 
mouth of Caney river where a Port 
of the same name was located. This 
We were to guard. Several gunboats 
of the blocading fleet were at that 
time occupying the coast of Texas 
and had appeared in sight of Fort 
Caney and it wias supposed that the 
eiijemy was making preparations to 
land troops nearby in Order to cap- 
ture the garrison. We were accord- 
ingly there to support it. Not long 
after our arrival two of the Federal 
Gunboats drewjiiear and began to shell 
the Fort. Our company was ordered 
inside but on our I'emonstratiaig we 
were allowed to deploy up and down 
the beach behind sand hills. The 
1 gua in the Fort was soon sileiuced. 

An unexpected treat fell to our lot 
soon after the firing ceased. The 
Federal gu.nboat ran a Spaniish sail- 
ing vessel in near the Fort where she 
gromided. The crew, all Cubans, be- 
ing much frighteined, abandoned her 



each soivndiing of its notes that we ! and took to the woods. Our officers 



were to march imto battle immediate- 
ly. Orde.rs that met omr approval we 
obeyed but others we evaded as all 
old soldiiers know well how to do. 
Having completed our reorgajiiza- 



took possession of the boat and car- 
go, consisting of coffee, Irish potatoes 
salt fish, calico washbowls and pitch- 
ers, bar iron and some few barrels 
besides numberfS of cases of various 
tonics, which we called soothing sy- 

16. 



rup, consignied to R. & G. Mills of 
Galvetston. 

W« were ordered by companies to 
unload the vessel which had now be- 
come a wreck aaid|we were proaniseid 
the usual salvage, oiie-ithird of the car- 
go. Attaching a cable and the whole 
regiment lemdiiing a hand we soon 
had a suitable position for unload- 
ing and in a few hours had taken 
everythiin.g out except the bar iron. 

MeanwMle the boys had tested the 
various brands of sootbinig syrup 
which they found to be greatly ex- 
hiliarati/nig in iits effectsu However, 
after conibiaiual sampMiUg they discov- 
ered it to be overpoweringly imtioxica- 
tlng. In fact by twelve o'clock at 
night the whole command was stret- 
ched on the sajnds of the beach help- 
lesaly drunk, except Major Fly, Sax- 
geanit Bill and myself. 

On sipeakinig of the matter after- 
ward I placied our Chaplain in the list 
of the sober but BLll siwone that he 
was as drunk as the rest. However, 
Bill was prejudiced against this "par- 
son", called him a "one-eyed John 
who could only see a sdmigle side to 
a question and that to his personal 
advantage". Bill swore that any man 
who was too good to associate with 
the ra;nk and file on earth would de- 
sert them on the road to heaven. On 
the sitrength of these convictions he 
refused to hear him preach. Dirunk 
or sober the Chaplain was able to de- 
part the next morning in a cart which 
hf had loaded down with goods from 
the wreck. 

The FMn arose at the usual hour af- 
ter the night of debauch but the regi- 
ment failed to greet his returning 
rays. Many of them were all 3ay g»t- 
ting on their feet. There was visible 
of the cargo next day alSteir unload- 
ing, six or »9ven barrels of tonic, 
one-fourth of the coffee amd crock?ry 
ware, the remainder having been hur- 
ried in the sajid by the boys who 
were so drunk at the time that veiry 



little of it was ever recovened, they 
not beia^ ftble to remember the hid- 
ing places after they becajme sober. 

Geioeral Bee sent w<agon/s down and 
hauled off the remaininig barrelsi and 
coffee, kindly leaviing us the bowjs, 
pitchers, the proper use of which 
would no doubt have improved our 
appearances hut as he failed to fur- 
niak clean towels and soap to go 
with them we failed to awreciate 
their value. 

About this time two of our con- 
scriiptai, no doubt recognizing their 
ignorance of dynaties and with praise- 
worthy zeal to rise in a chosen (by 
others) profession concluded to begin 
an individual inveadgation of these 
forces, each for himself. Procuring 
two charged shells from the Port 
they proceeded to experiment. One 
of the shells waS' placedi at the roots 
of a large 'tree, and reaching around 
from behind one of the "situdents" 
touched the fuse with a lighted torch. 
The shell went off and so did two of 
the investigator® fingers The other 
daring seeker after knowledge of 
thi.ngs imiilitary. placed his shell un- 
der a rude board and stood upon It 
while he applied the torch. The re- 
sult was a raipid ascension skyward In 
which I fear the victim came nearer 
reaching heaven than he ever wiUi a- 
gain. Strange to say this fellow re- 
turned to earth intact and unhurt ex- 
cept for slight bruises. The explosion 
made a terrific noise and caused 
quite a commotion. This was the 
first conscript we had ever seen ele^ 
vated from the ranks. I always 
thought that this fellow was what 
Josh Billings would call a "dam phuL 

We remained two or three months 
in .his section when we marched to 
Houston where we took railroad for 
Galveston which place we reached a- 
bout the middle of April 18€4. 



'.7. 



we were assigned, lo post duty up- 
on our arrival at Ualvemon and re- 



war, ueineral Mc«jru(ier, comimander 
ot the loj'ces on ualvestoin isianid, 
had his headquanLers in ihe city and 
our duties comsisted in guarding thes« 
together with the quarteranasteir and 
commissary liito-res. In the intervals 
of guard duty we occupied our tame 
trying to drill eoonething like soldier- 
ly bearing into our raw consicripts i/n 
order to make them fiit for the next 
war. Most of us had then lost all 
hope of the presetnit one, for seeiing 
tha.t the complete subjugation of 
the Confederacy was only a matteo- 
of a few months, we soon gave up 
trying to make any improvements in 
the awkward squad® of consoripts 
when asisignied to drill tihem. 

We were never molested by the 
enemy while on Galveston Island. Our 
nearest appiroach to battle was with 
our own men when we were called out 
one night to protect Col. Hawes quar- 
ters from the assault of a mob, com- 
posed of resident soldiers and their 
families. These soldiers demiamded 
that the government issue rations to 
their starvin.g wives and children, 
which being refused on account of 
the depleted condition of our com- 



ondy military execution, I wditneesed 
during the war. A private of Geriman 



mained there uuiui the cioae of 'une- parentage beloniging to an artillery 



company of Col. Cook's, regiment was 
shot for desertion. He had made two 
former attemiptsi to deiSerit and it was 
at last decided to make an example of 
him. Our regiment was assigned to 
guard the prisoner at the execution, 
out three miles from town. On reach- 
ing the appointed place three regi- 
ments were drawn up forming three 
sides of a parleloigram all fading in- 
ward. The deiEerter was' marched a- 
long in front of the emtire line and 
when the open end was reached, halt- 
ed and the firing squad marched for- 
ward and fired. 

The squad consisted of twelive men, 
the half of whose guns wiare loaded 
with powder and^ ball,, the reimaining 
six guns being charged with blank 
cartridges. None of the squad knew 
whether he fired a blank or a ball. 

After the execution we were mai--- 
ched by where the body lay dead up- 
on the ground in order to impreiss up- 
on our minds the penalty for deser- 
tion. 

This man was the ibst whom I saw 
killed during tlie war. But we were 
attacked duriiug the summer of 1864 
by a silent and insidious enemy a- 



missarie®, had come in a riotousi mob gaj^gt which our heaviest guns avail- 
to secure provisions by force if per- 
suasion diid not avail. 

No one who has not seen a mob of 
this kind clamoring for bread can 
have any conception of the crazed 
and uncontrollable rage of the panti- 
cipants or aippreciate the difficulty 
of quieting them withoiit the shedding 
of blood. However by promising to 
see that the women and children 
would be fed and ordering a company 
to fire over the heads of the mob our 
officers finally quelled the riot with 
only one man injured who was acci- 
dentally killed by some one's awk- 
wardness in firing. 

Here I took part in the first and 



ed nothing. The yellow fever invad- 
ed our camp and soon became epi- 
demic, carrying off numbers who had 
courted death on numerous battlte— 
fields and endured the hardehips of 
many campaign®, only to sue comb 
at last to this dreadied scourge. This 
was a time that tried men's souls be- 
yond the test of battle shouts. No 
surging crowd® of men to urge one 
on to victory or death yet now what 
heroic bravery it required to sit a- 
lone through the sad isilent watches 
of the night beside a plague-stricken- 
comrad's bed and minister to 'the 
dieiinig wants of one who's very breath 
exhaled death into the surrouniding at- 



18. 



mosphere. But men wier© found in 
oamp and women 'too In thje|ici'ty| whose 
thoughts of ©eltf Wiere dfrowned in, oth- 
er's cup of (treimblimg so. ithat not one 
wais left ito suffer and die alone. 

Aiud here durdng this, ©piidemdic was 
disp&ayed equally as much heroism 
if not more than is required to go in- 
to battle both by isolidiiers and also the 
good women of the city, true hero- 
ines iiUdeed who so kindly cared for 
and miniieitiered to the s'ck and dieing 
soldiers. I am sometinfies iniclined 
to agree with thait fellow over the 
river who leaid: "Woman is the fin^ 
ishing grace of creation, (the oom- 
pleteness of man's bli&s and paradise 
his companion, councilor and comfor- 
ter in his pilgrimage through life. 
Our sweetest cup of earthly happiin- 
ess is mixed and ministered by her 
hands and in heaven we will bless 
our creator for her aid in reaching 



that blissful G'tatie." Pl'eaae excuse 
thiis diigresisl'Om,. 

Nothing of an eventful nature oc- 
cured to us durdng 1864. The opening 
of the spring of 1865 brought with it 
the down^fall of the Confederacy 
and the few of us le'fit returned to our 
homes emancipated after four years 
from the restraints of military life, 
which we enjoyed very much. 
The war | has been over forty-six|y©aira 
and it isi only the volunteer soldier 
who fully realizes the changed con- 
ditions. They ane heavenly indeed 
now in comparfeon. General Sher- 
man properly defined war when he 
said that it was the opposite of heav- 
en. This is the opiinion. of 

RALPH J. SMITH. 
Company K,, Second Texas Infan- 
try, born at Centerville, St. Mary's 
parrish. La., Juilly 19th, 1840. Now re- 
sident of Sajn Marcos. Hays Counjty 
Texas. 




19. 



TO THE DAUGHTERS OF THE CON 
FEDERACY. 



An Insight into the Character of 
Volunteer Soldier. 



I was a VoluQiteer soldier. I have 
ever loved the word Volunteeir and 
have deitesiLed the word Conscript. It 
takes a voluniteer soldier to diacrim- 
iaate between ithe two. The oompari- 
son iii like a team com posed of a 
lazy mule aiid a spirited horse. Each 
is acLuated by a different motive. The 
volunteer goes of his own free will; 
me conscript is coerced. 

I was An my 21iSt year when I vol- 
unteered in the Confederate service. 
I was so good and so green that my 
pa thought somethdinig of making a 
preacher of me but I told him ithat the 
boys- were all volunteeriang and that 
I was going to volunteer too. Late of 
girls kissed me good bye as I had 
three sisters and one sweet-heart Two 
yoimg ladies each made me a present 
one of a bible and the othier of a 
rather insigmificant one that I was 
loath to take, but took it as she 
said that I would need it, and I did, 
so much so that Lt soon wore out. 
The lady who gave me the bible exac- 
ted two promises of me, one was to 
quit swearing and the other was to 
read my bible, which I did. And no 
doubt this oontriibuted ito my moral 
welfare, as I did not let a day pass 
that I did not seonetly petition our 
Creator for his oare and protection 
and I verily believe that all iintelEgent 
soldiers did the same, especially in 
active service, for the fatajilties that 
were oonistantlv oocurdmg inspired 
them with a deflire for His protec- 
tion. 

Well, we orgjvniz^f^ ft company with 
Clark L. Owens as our captain, a 
man fi.fty-flive years old and a Chris- 
tian gentleman. We went direct to 
Houston aind joined the Seoooid Tex- 
as Infantry, commanded by Colonel 
.Tohn C Moore, ft West Po'int gyad- 

20 



uate and a brave and gallant officer 
but not a Christian, for he wasi red- 
headed, red-bearded, red-faced, and 
extremely high-itempered. It was on- 
ly a short time until I had strong ©us- 
picions that I had joined a negtiment 
of devils. In every regim^eint of vol- 
unteer soldiers there is a strong vedjn 
of humor that a® ever present and 
never absemt even in the thiickest of 
battle .To show you how quickly 
they can go from the very serious to 
the very ridiculous I will deacrdbe 
this scene. 

My reigiimenit was doing posit duty 
and was appointed to escort the re- 
maifns of Colonel Thomasi F. Lubbock 
from the depot down la town. He 
was placed in a public building and 
lay in state and while his citizen and 
soldier friends were godjig in and 
viewing him the regiment was lined 
up in the sitreet listening to a rose- 
bud orator enlogdizing. He began in 
this way: "Thomas P. Lubbock Is 
dead, dead." repeating this three tim- 
es. He spoke about one hour and 
wheu the regiment moved off immed- 
iately some wag started the ball to 
rolMng by repeating his finst words 
which went down the regimient, two- 
thirds of the boys joining in. This was 
the most ridiculous scene I ever wit- 
nessed. Of course, the regiment was 
disgraced in the eyes of the friends 
of Colonel Lubbock and the citizens^ 
of Houston were glad when we left, 
which we did on the 22.nd of March 
1862, going direct to Tennessee, reach- 
ing there in time to engage in the 
battle of Shiiiloih which was fought on 
the &th and 7th of Afpril. It wasi this 
first day's fight that convinced me 
fhct I was riight in my concluslans 
for m^y regiment fought like devils 
incarnate. Thns was the biiggest re- 
vival I ever witneissed. There was 
rrr^at r-'joicime; for w'th an army one- 
third less than that of the enemy we 
drove them to the Te<nne?.s'^e riiver and 
many a poor fellow took his last bath 
in his '^ffortc to cross. We alfo cap- 



tured their entire commiissiairy and 
quarter-masteir's stores and ate sup- 
per and breakfast off th.edr comimis- 
sariies and buit for the death of our 
general late that e vending we would, 
have captured the entire army. 

The next day, the Tth was revival 
day foil" the feiderals, for Giemeral Buell 
on ithe night of the 6th croased over 
with forty thousand fresh itjr.oo/p,s. I 
was wounded and left on the battle 
field and am prepared to advise all 
young meixi gouig into battle to avoid 
being shot in the left log beiow the 
kaee. I was not in a posiitiom to .see 
how fast the boysi moved tO' the rear 
but uaderstood they made a good 
record for speed, which was wisie un- 
der the circumstances. 

I was taken direct to St. Louis 
and placed in McDoweM'siOollageand 
kiuidiy careid for. I stayed three mon- 
ths and of courue learned a great deal 
and but for the reason that I did 
not make suffiicient progresrs or some 
other reason thicy sent me to the 
penitentiary at Alton, Illiiiois, where 
1 stayed three months longer. I enjoy- 
ed thiej' more than in Colliege for I 
had moi'e rooim for exercise and soon 
recruiited sufficiently to throw away 
my cnutohas and mingle with the 
1200 other prJuoners and enjoy 
their asaociatiosi. If you wilil excuse 

me for taking you to the pienitentiary 

,.,,,. ^ . .. ^ V- (Written during the Spanisih-Ameri- 

I will bring you out again and to be 

brief will say that I was sioon with i ^^'" War) 

my reigiment. 



homie, are unpleasaint memories. I 
might elaborate on these largely but 
will refrain from doing so and sim- 
ply inform you, and would have you 
beliieve me, conditions as tbey exist 
today are heavenly indeed in. compari- 
son. And I would urge that all be 
interested in the dissemination of 
the Christi^an religion and Christian 
education and of course the making 
of good and wholesome laws for the 
benefit of the conscript and conditlions 
will be created that I am sune will 
more likely meet with diviine -approv - 
a' than asi other ciiviil war. The vol- 
unteer Confederate isoldier and Vol- 
u.rii:ieeir soldiei- of the cross, lis alijO. K. 
The Volunteier soon becomes imiuiune 
to that disease called acute verdancy 
Noit so the conscript, for he is lack- 
ing in independence and is perpetual- 
ly under the tutorage of the other 
fellow. 

I thank you ladies for your atten- 
tion and may happiness ever attend 
you, may nothing disturb your pure 
thoughts and may you ever be lovely 
and pretty are the wishes of my 
heart. 



WAR NOT JUSTIFIABLE. 



There is much to be learned of the 
volunteier soldier. For four years I 
heard eveir subject under the sun 
ciisaed and discussed except autooio^ 
biles, aeroplanes and hobble skirts 
I do not know why the boys did not 
think of these. 

Now my friiends, not desiring to 
weary your patience I will conclude 
with a few more thoughts. The de- 



That divinely instiituted law of free 
moral agency ia as applicable to an 
aggregaticn of men as to the individ- 
ual man, and when a coHsction of 
men. assenible together and devise 
plans for war, claimiiiag|itto|bo|3Uistiiifi- 
alile and haividiig the s-aniction of divin- 
ity L3 equally as absurdjto mylmindjas 
foT tvv'o individuals to bocomo ant'ago- 



moraMz.ing conditions 'that the civil . nistic and settle their grievances by 
war created, both in the army and at rescrting to armc, resulting perhaps 

' 21. . 



In th.e deaitih cf 1, aAid the vlictwious 
party claiiming the Lord wasi cm his 
side. VVheaii a|man'9|ijndiividiia] domain 
is thireateaiied by an armed foe, he 
i* justified in defending It, even if 
he has to dosituroy life in doing oo. 
Anid wihen a natioaiis teraiiitioaiy isldnvad'- 
ed by aai armied force, theai, and on- 
ly than, m uhie juatlfded, dm resii sting 
ar^d making war on thelinvadcrlamdi it 
would bp cowardioe and wanit of pat* 
rlotisim not to do so, and under these 
conditiione on,ly, if eiver, the leaders 
mighit claiini divine direction or tjanc- 
ticni The dicmorallKang effect of war 
and the absence of pieity and the un- 
favorable condiitione for such in arm- 
ed foriees, and the wijckednessi ajnd 
viico necessarily^ orecjted in enga.giing 
i:i the avocatioin of a aoldier is con- 
cliusive evidence, that the creator has 
nothing to do wdith war, 

Theire is/ we admiit, an overruling 
providence that is cons'tamitly operajt- 
Ing on. lives and heari:s of natlotnis or 
men that con/stitute nations, but pro- 



a'lud tellinig lOf whajt a gncifut MIe. pre- 
srVver the Bliblo^ ie by carrying In it 
the hroast pocket. Tjho old sojd/iier 
knowti how thiiis Is dome —-the can' 
scHipt or cowardly soldier during an 
engaigeimenit has fneqiicnitly bean 
known to hdide in the bruisih and reiad 
the Biible or deck of cards, more ofiten 
the laititer, .instccd of bciir.g .in tho 
fighit. By this irjeiRins Ivi® life v/iaa 
preseirved. 

Because] good accrues to men or 
natione as a ree-uJit of war is no ovl- 
donioei of dts jiUSitmiCB® or riighteonanesB 
OH' that the creator sancitioms it. We 
n;ay be liuired dMo ithe bciliief thiat He 
does because pecuniary advantages 
and moral achievemcntjsi ao-dise from 
it. If Toun shoots down poor BilJltherie 
will also be pccxiniary bencfite., .espec- 
ially if BiJi's life its insured. Hio v/id 
ow iis oistajblished in buHdnessi and 
started on the road to prosperity- 
This is frequently tlie case aaid it 
would be exiti'etaeliy absurd to isay 



videmce isi oniiy guidcrig ard direct- that tlie Lord was onu Tom's side. 



ing those who submit to his laws. 

In oa"der to be properly qualified to 
becoone a soldder and a formidable aiu 
tagoncet, there is seemioigly iimpl ant- 
ed in the mind a hatred of the foe, 
couitroHiiig chaTac'ticrdisitic of the Criea- 
tor and producimg Injtho htuman brcasb 
an element that is antagonistic to 
whait we ai'e tutored to beldeve is the 
controlling characteristic of tiie Crea 
tor, that is love and mercy. We ad- 
mit there have been a few exoeptiocjS 
to this rule; in a few isolated cases 
our warrior leaders' have maintainjed 
their proper aUeigiance to the creator 
while prosiecutinig a war. These only 
are the true heroes, and these only 
should be eulogized. 

The naitural tendency of a soldier 
life, judgliing fl-om a "ouii- year ob- 
servatdion and exp^eriencc, isi demor- 
alization, so much so that in our op 



While we bolseve that rigiht and juS' 
tice will ultimately prevail the Lord 
seems from observation to be on the 
side of the strongest and best equiip- 
pfd. Two of the ablest men anid 
SMitesmen ithe world has ever produc- 
ctl were Gladstcnie and Bdsmark. The 
former not only opposed war except 
ill case of invasaon, but averted it 
when possible and when precipitated 
usic^d means to stop its pnosecution. 

The latter in his last days acknow- 
ledged that he had- been instrumeuital 
in bringing about three wars, saw 
hfw they could have boiea averijed;ajnd 
rt^greitted ho hind r.ot stopiped them. 
The American people as well as tlie 
English would do well to emulaite the 
example of these two statesmen,. But 
then , desipiite the dire coinse quenc es | of 
war, it sedms hiistory has *o repeat 
itself. ThOi greed for Gold love of ccn- 



iniion a company of preachers would quest, fame and adventure must be 
be taking a k/t of chances of becom- 
ing demoralized, especially in a war 
of eXitended diuratdon. Preachers us- 
ed to be very fond of citing instances 



gratified; that ambitions element 
wliich is so closely allied to the brute 
must be gratified, so that our warrior 
lerders. Gon. TiheopoliiB Dolittle and 



22. 



and othena, nmy huva theilp broiws 
crowtiied with lauineilei amd have coJos- 
«>ial marhlic-' moiniuimcni:® ©nected im 
their mieauoiry. 

It is evein claiimod, thait in gmng 900 
miles from home to tho Phiiipime Is- 
lanida to £ied a fo© to conquer, is jus- 
tifiable from a moral staiuipottnit. 
Cathaliiciism bojiiirg the doaxiiimrjnit relig- 
ion our D.D's claim it is op/pressi'vio, 
and we an'e jusitMiaibJie k\ slTJUghterffliiig 
large p'Sirceimtiogie ci the piopulatiion. in 
order to make the r&mciiindor acoep't 
our veirsion of the gosipol regairdlesis 
or the loss of the litvosi cf sievoral 
thousand of our young moin in so do- 
ing 'the creaimjof|the niatdoii'. Wejca/n- 
uot become rocoiiicaleid to tlie pniinoip- 
lo of forcible ohri,stianity. If we 
•could wc woiuM fa/vor ishootitig it in- 
to som,e of OUT laomc fcilks. 



GENEALOGY OF THE SMITH FAM- 
ILY. 



Ralph Smith, San Marcos, 

Ajt the first glance, sx this heading 
the reader would justly conclude 
tliat the writer had assumed to hian- 
delif an herculean task, but as my ob- 
ject is to givie dm brief a biography ^ 
my own family ancsstors, excludljag 
ail of tiie name of John Smiith, there 
beimg none so called in my anceatry, 
the task will Beem' easier. 



ed itio be 80 years old. My mother's 
parenits,, Wm H. Cook and Martha 
Cook, for whom my mother was nam- 
ed, were natdves of Ohio in which 
state my mother was neared. at the 
town of Mililedigeviillie. This grand- 
nicther Liiviod to be 70 years ojd. My 
grandfather Cook lived to be 87 years, 
old and served in the war of 1812. H 
lived unitil I was near grown |and|oifitien 
deeply imuterested me by repeating his 
recolleiotions. of the war,|an,d.|iinapiring 
me with a great desda-e to become a 
soldier. I feared then the opportun- 
iity would never come but it did come 
I had thriee first cousins that sprung 
from a branch of this Cook family, 
their names being WilMam HonryjHar- 
rJson, Benjamin Aibijah Curtis, and 
Zachariah Taylor Cook. Beiing unab- 
le to tote such names for long, they 
neeeasarlLy passed away early in life. 
Some very noted characteriisifeics of 
my antecedents were that they weire 
all born tviith their eyes open, mono 
had fits, and none of theim ever were 
hunig, went to jail, the penitontiiary 
or the leigislature. All were big eat- 
ers, and some suocessfuil in leadimg a 
mule to waticr or ^riving a cow down 
a lane. Of all my ancestors that I 
have any knowledge nO)ne'|lived| always 
some succuined to disease whale 
otiiers more fortunaite lijved u/ntil thei/ 
machimery wore out and submitted 
to that irrevocable decree of ithe Crea- 
tor, and went the way of all mom- 
kind. Some were heroes in war, but 



My father Alfred Smith, was bom 
March 29ith 1810 in the state of Louds- ! as hero wor&hip is of modern|creatiion 



ara, and died August 16th 1889, in 
Jackson county Texas. I have no re- 
cord of my mother's birtih or death, 
but ahe lilvcd to be 65 years old. The 
wiiter wasjbonnjjuliy 19ith 1840|at|Cen- 
trcviille. La. My grandfather, Henry 
Johannon Simith, was born and rear- 
ed in the state of Maine. He was a 
keeper of a light house otnltheleoast of 
La, and while enigaged in this avoca- 
tion was drowned when my father 
was a ten year old hoy. My father's 
mother was of Irish parentage, her 
family name v/as Armstrong. She 11 v- 



and not the fad then, as now no co- 
lossal marble monumeoit mariks tihe 
grave of my ancestors. A first cous- 
in cf my father's whom all readers of 
Texas hiatory remember, took an ac- 
tiA'e part in driving the enemy from 
Texas siodl; I allude to Erasmus Smdfch 
commonly known as Deaf Smith. I 
have often hecjr'^ my father refer to 
hdm they having been raised togeth- 
er. 

In the spring of 1852 when I was 
tv/elve years old my father with his 
family immigrated to Texas aboard 



23. 



a siaiil vessel, laiiddmig at tbe oM torvvn 
oi' Inidianioila, when itransf-ering oiir 
plumder to a citeani boat we had the 
hon'Oir of being a parity .to ascenision 
of the firfsit steam v&sscil uip th© Navir 
dad riivieir to oM Tiexainna,, hieiad of ,na- 
vigaitiiciii and our future^ home, gettiiinig 
in piroxiimiity to this little viHagei in 
eariy moirniiiig hours, the boat began 
a i;eirLie,s of sharp and loiud whi3tltO)S 
which, resiulted in effecting a com- 
pieie iSitPdrnpede of naitivcs and stock. 
Same white folks, all the niggers, 
hoi'iscs, cattlie, hogis, dogsi scampered 
off to the pro/irile mo dvioibt concluding 
that the judgement day hfOd come. 

My firist recQllectiicin of a school 
houiSQ was that the inside wall was 
adormied with hole®. I was frequent- 
ly caused to eitand en one foot wiith 
bcok in loft hand the index finger of 
my right hand inserited in a hole in 
the wall! and in. this aifctttuide I had to 
learii' my ICfSrson. If I faiiled, whjich I 
often diid, 1 wois conducted^ to or nec^r 
the center of the schiool house and ! 
for further publish nicnt placed on a | 
dunce block with a dunce cap om. my ! 
head and leather sipeotaclGi::. on|,my ey- j 
es, in thiis comjditiiion I had to endure I 

the scrutiinizing gazo of the enitiro I At tlie earnest requic>ot of an old 
schooil, which was humiliating indeed. I lady friiend and school mate who in- 
Foi'taina'jGiIy for me there wasi suffi- 1 u;.sts that I write something of my 



siiinmon beeir. Now we have virgin 
pulletis, turkey and craubeirry sauce, 
chicken anid salmon salad, metropo'li- 
taii and angel cake, and other num- 
erouiu. delicacies. 

And- the pioipular theme of the day Ijs 
the heroeis of|tliiejwar wholareeulioigiz- 
eu even from the pulpits-. For shame 
when if thetse heroeis, many of them, 
could have their just deserts, would 
have a simiilan inscription on their 
tombstones as that furnished to old 
Kaisel by an Indiian poet, thu:3ly: 
There was man who died of late, 

For whoim the. angels did ian patient- 
ly wait. 
With on L stretched wings of love 

To waft him to the realtaiis above. 
But while the emgelis werie hovering 
in the skieS'. 

And diisiputing over the prize. 
In sKipped the devil like a weaael, 
Anid down to hades he carried Keisel. 



RECOLLECTION OF MY 
HOOD DAYS. 



BOY- 



cieat sympathy malnifeigted for me to 
encourage me to majlce some heroic sf 
forts to master my task'.^,. I succeod- 



j boy hoed and ycimg mainhcod days. 
I have decided to give to the public 
something thot came u.nd>er my obS)3r- 



ed to that extent that di,v,orced me i vation and to which I was a-:, eye-wit- 



forevei' from these modes of punish- 
ment. 

My first reicollecticns of preaching 
vvas in a schoiol house; the advent of 
the parcon was looked to with joy, 
the meni w^ould herald it abroad, the 
woihisn would cry aloud "the parson 
is a coimiiD, or comin," 



ncss, and which I have not the least 
idea that not anicther man iiu Hays 
County ever witnicsBcd a like scene. 
About the year 1856 the re | came from 
South Carolina a bachelor man, poesi- 
b]y thirty-five years old, with six ne- 
groes and other proiperty. He bought 
an uuLmproved tract of timbered land 



Now we have massive church huiid- about ^''tieen miles from old T-exanna 
iings in every town with clear sound- ; iu Jacksea county, moved ca\ it with 
ing bells proclaiming the coming of his negroes^ and began cleaxiing it up. 



the Sabbath day, and parsonis are 
thicker than cottom tail' rabbits. 

My earjiy recollections of a Christ- 
mas dinner was that it consisted of 
braked poissuim, sliced potato pie aind 
ginger cake, washed down with per- 



or had his negro slaves to|do|sc while 
h: foilloiwed buying and aelling hor-ses 
a;:d was frequently absent for several 
weeks. 

At the time of the circumstance 
that I desire to mention he had been 



24. 



abisemt seiveral anoniths and his near- tbey were extremely haippy and each. 
^'st njeighibor!:5Mbad|begian|to|ha,ve|S(tirong| one was placed upon his own coffin 



suspicdcino )that somiethdiig hjad hap- 
pened tO| him and I'commencedjtol make 
sam/8 investigrjtlionjs which rcsullbed in 
the aiiTOst sund inccirecraiticn in the 
county jaiLl of three nogro men and 
one woman. Shortly after being' plac- 
ed in jail Ihoy all confessed to the 
killing of their macjtcr. Their ciaimes 
wene: Zeke who was a preacher and 
John and Jack the oldoot, c, man of 
herculean strengtih six feiet three in^ 
chos in. heighjth. And he was the 
"genitleman" who wielded the ax thiat 
^lont hafj. mGisitor inito etercity while he 
was. asleep in the clearing T/i.th his 
stid'dle for a pillow in the mffiddle of 
tlie day. 

They threw his body into a bru&h 
pile and burned it to ashe.s and. iit 
was siaLd that eiveryithing burned up 
but his heart rjnd we boys and many 
men wiere supersiti!tiiOu.s enough to be- 
lieve this rot. Possiibly it was so as 
it might haA^e been made of stone. It 
was currently reported 'that this man, 
before moving to Texas., had a live 
negro placed in a coffin and made 2 
other negroes saw him in two with a 
cross-cut saw. I suppose that he died 
for no human being could stand such 
an operation as that and livie. 

I cannot vouch for the truth of the 
above but fix>m my viewpoint of 
things now if tlii.s man practicedi one- 
half of the cruelty that, these poor 
slaves accused him of he undoubtedly 
got his just deserts. 

Well in due course of |timelthe|threie 
men were condemned to be. publicly 
hung. The jury that tried the wom- 
an failed to agree as. one man on it 
would not conrent to ho^ng a wo.man, 
.'JO she waal finally lliberated. The|thre© 
men had their usual thirty days, to 
prepare for their final departure in 



in a wagon sod moved ciff under a 
strong guard of armed men to the 
gallowii one-mile off in the open post 
oak wood and near a pubilic road. 

As they were marched to tihe place 
they sang all the way some old bible 
hymn with a crowd of us school boys 
as hearerL'.. On reaching the gallows 
Tliiey found waiitiing the largest crowd 
ot whJte .mGii and negroes of both cex- 
66 I ever saw together, the negroes 
being coercedi to see the sight. If 
any was left behind at home it was. 
dead ones and babies. 

The tlinee men were .mad!e|to| asioend- 
t J the top and on the trap door and 
'3iuch given a few minute® to talk. Old 
Jack and John made short speeches 
but Zieke, the preacher, m/ade quit© a 
lengthy speech, all claimiijng to be en 
route to heaven. 

When the drop was made Jack's 
and John.'s. necks were broken but 
Zeke'ti was not and it seemed as 
though he would not giive it up and 
struggled fearfully, hie feet moving 
with as.t.onishin.g rapidity which ex- 
cited an old colored lady who ex- 
claimed in a moment of rapture: 
"Dat nigger sho' been a good dancer 
in his day.'. 

NotwithsitandiiJng the solemnity of the 
ocoasaon this uncalled for outburst 
brought some smdiles to the boys. 

From younig manhood up I have ev- 
er been irresisitibly drawn toward 
preachers, especially negro preachers, 
therefore I got to withdn ten feot of 
Zeke so I heard all he said and altho 
a thoughtlesK boy I was impressed 
with it, too much so for my good, for 
I coiuld see those dead negroes for a 
month afterft'ard, especially after eat- 
ing a bdg supper. 

This spot of ground became sacred. 



which timeitheld'ifferentjpreachers had .% much so that the public road was 
them in charge and adminastered spir- changed and no man, white or black 



itual consolation to them, by which I 
have no doubt they were very much 
benefited. 

At any race by tho day of t^xecution 



ever got near it, day or nighft, 
except one of my chums who 
claimed to ride near the spot cfL?n 
on dark nights and was not the least 



26. 



hJ. afraid, ,m h/c would go by wi^- 
tiuig. Hte fiamo was Ananias No 2 
Many were *be ghoBts afterward 
seen in the vicinifty. 

Well, the vdiUiage doctor bought 
the body of big Jack wi^i the ioiteii- 
tion of mafciing- a skeleton for exhibir 
tioii. Of course this- imtsrested all 
the hoys and we looked forward to i 
the time with eageraeGs aa:d impa- 
We to the time when, we would «ee! 
this curiosity. Well the time came, j 
borne mail rode to the school house I 
and reported to us: that the doctor | 
had Jack's bones together. We^ bovs ' 
dismissed the schooi. leaving the tea- 
cher m charge of the girte, r^cid belt- 
ed for ,the doctor's office in a rur 
same, three- hiundred yards- off On our 
arrival the doctor told us, tha/t we I 
would find what we wanted in a clos- i 
et in the reai- of Ms office. 



A few of us approached the place 
and peeped in. There we sa-w Jack's 
bones all together in a box. where 
jthey remained only a saort time and • 
I then werel c^nrnped, into, ohe Naividad 
river The Doctor was not as bravo 
a? he thought and had no notaom of 
stayiing in his offflce with Jack's skele- 

tOiU. 

We bc.ys, aliwayis ttioraght cur teiacC- 
I ex- was the principaJl acton in- pinn,- 
j^ng this April Fiooli scheme for our 
benefit for he wa« a jolly gooKi fe,l- 
Mow when net in, schooJ trycr,£- to 
! hammer some book scnsie toto ^ur 
! thick heads. 

Well when the negroes were set 
free the ghost disappeared from- the 
land. I have never seen a ghost 
smce the civil, war, for which I thank 
the Lord. 



26. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 704 536 9 



